Welcome

Welcome to the POZ/AIDSmeds Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ/AIDSmeds community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

Which is consistent with what I saw in my city. So is HIV a white disease? NOT. I cannot believe that there is such a difference between white and non-white. This is actually scaring me, because unless I have proof that Asians Americans, Black Americans, and Latino Americans have developed a magic way to avoid HIV, then it's all about culture.

This tells me a lot about how different cultures deal with HIV and it's not pretty.

are there that many asians compared to white people in sandiego? (ive never been so i dont know)...i guess ill go visit you just so i can see how many there are

what does this mean? i need to know what youa re saying here puertoricoboi

You know,,, there are still WAY many more white people in California compared to non whites except for LAtinos although, a lot of Latinos could pass for white.

well, this is my theory,,, since hiv/aids really started with white people mostly at least in America, and since most of people tend to stick to their own race when it comes to sexual preferences, hiv/aids stayed mostly within white gay community and slowly progressed to difference community? who knows....

what does this mean? i need to know what youa re saying here puertoricoboi

just trying to find any excuse to go visit milker.... a "research" project lol

Quote

well, this is my theory,,, since hiv/aids really started with white people mostly at least in America, and since most of people tend to stick to their own race when it comes to sexual preferences, hiv/aids stayed mostly within white gay community and slowly progressed to difference community? who knows....

lol i dont judge based on race lol...its all good to me...im an international lover ;-) lol.....

-josh(who is extremely bored and hasnt done ANYTHING all day but chat online)

Statistics is an odd bird. My suggestion for you, milker, is to take those head counts then compute them against respective population of each race within your city, then, figure the percentages. The numbers will magically change to reflect................what? Those numbers do appear to be a misrepresentation.

Unless I miss my guess, you're extrapolating data from a website (i.e. how many people from various races are HIV+) and making various sociological conclusions from it.

You can't do that.

It's bad statistics and bad science.

I've made this point before, and I'll make it again. Access to the teh Internets is generally restricted by income. Who makes more money, as a racial group, than any other in this country? White people.

All results you get on the Internet are going to be skewed for that reason.

HIV/AIDS is a disease of poverty.

Let's review some facts.

1. People with more money tend to be better educated.2. Highly educated people tend to surround themselves with a peer group of highly educated people.3. Highly educated people, by virtue of their education, will have more knowledge about HIV/AIDS and are thus less likely to stigmatize.4. Education costs money.5. The racial group with the most money in this country is teh honkies.6. White people generally complete higher levels of education than other racial groups because of the fact that they have money and access to it.7. More education equals more money.8. More money equals better access to health care.

I'm afraid I need to make some inferences here based on the above facts.

Namely, that white people probably would be the group, as a whole, to get tested more often for the simple reason that better access to health care means that there is one less roadblock to getting tested for them.

Not to put anybody down or anything... but I think that an average single black female (Have you noticed that we hardly have any female African-Americans here? Has anyone asked themselves why? No? That's what I thought) is making considerably less than your average white male and is going to have a much harder time getting the care for HIV that she needs, and she knows it. Thus, people with less money (and those people, statistically, tend to be African-American and Hispanic) are less likely to get tested... and if they do, they're less likely to talk about it. Stigma lessens with education.

If anything, the results you mentioned say more about classism, institutionalized racism, the inherent racial disparity of Internet access, and white privilege in this country than with how a given race's culture handles HIV/AIDS.

If anything, the results you mentioned say more about classism, institutionalized racism, the inherent racial disparity of Internet access, and white privilege in this country than with how a given race's culture handles HIV/AIDS.

I totally agree. When I asked if HIV was a white disease it was sarcastic. I was still surprised by the "asians" numbers.

LIFE is not a race to the grave with the intention of arriving safelyin a pretty and well-preserved body, but, rather to skid in broadside,thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming--WOW! WHAT ARIDE!!!

Puerto Rico has put his finger right on a major issue about this. There is a widespread and what I'd say is a mistaken assumption these days that "everyone" is using a computer. As common as computer use seems to be these days, there are many for whom it is an unaffordable luxury.

In ACT UP we've been talking about ways to do outreach that is NOT computer-related. For instance, specifically we definitely need to find more effective ways of reaching out to the Latino and black communities, both adults and teenagers.

I'm quite happy to know that ACT UP realizes this... not making assumptions on people's ability to access the Internet. Breaking the paradigm of the assumption of privilege.

Here in Richmond, the only place I really see HIV awareness ads are on the buses... because it's how people with low incomes are more likely to get around.

I've been to New York countless times and know that this is done there, too.

Everyone might not have a computer, but nearly everyone has a television and radio. I've also seen those sort of "mobile billboard" vehicles... you can rent them and put your own ad on them, and they're put on a truck and driven around a city.

The biggest problem with the statistics is the assumption the numbers are representative of the general population which is clearly not the case. Good statistical studies require some level of correlation to the overall population you're trying to study so it is virtually impossible to do this with an ad-hoc query based upon a visit to a website.

The CDC has fairly decent and validated studies showing who's affected by the disease in the US and elsewhere. I would start there and then determine where the gaps in your data are.

I've always kind of wondered why it seems HIV related billboards and things seem to be specific to cities. There are obviously a high percentage of people at risk there but surely the kids hanging around suburbia (at least MY suburbia) aren't any more educated about it.

And I'm saying this while speaking from experience, because up until a few months ago before I started being homeschooled, I went to a public high school with over 3000+ kids in it from ages 13 to 18 and also speaking with the experence of someone with HIV while in highschool I can tell you very few of those 3000+ kids knew jack shit about it.

My area, while not a metropolis, is a rather busy area filled with highways and large business districts - not just residential sections even though we have a lot of those as well. Regardless of the fact that people think that anywhere in Pennsylvania besides Philly and Pittsburgh is bumfuck. This is with the heaviest amount of sarcasm in my voice, but I wonder if that means that people around here might have HIV, too.

I seriously have never seen ONE advertisement or anything in a public place suggesting one get tested for HIV.

If you think about the fact that just ONE school district in my area has 3000+ plus kids it kind of makes you wonder about the population of the entire valley in which I live. Eek.

I'm a little annoyed about it, tbh. It seems that everyone is concentrating solely on groups that are 'at risk' and forgetting the rest of the population, which in my opinion will probably result in a new group that's 'at risk' eventually. And trust me, there isn't any shortage of horny teenagers around here.

ImADope

If you live in USA the world is white. What small progress made for other races after civil rights efforts has stopped many years now in backwards attack. President Bush works for the American dollar and most payers pay to keep USA white. This effect will be until world equalization of all countries with USA in middle twenty-first century.

LIFE is not a race to the grave with the intention of arriving safelyin a pretty and well-preserved body, but, rather to skid in broadside,thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming--WOW! WHAT ARIDE!!!

Interestingly 'Klaatu' is the main character from a sci-fi flick called "The Day the Earth Stood Still". Ringo Starr was in it, if memory serves. Most notable for the made up language spoken by the critters from outer-space.

Interestingly 'Klaatu' is the main character from a sci-fi flick called "The Day the Earth Stood Still". Ringo Starr was in it, if memory serves. Most notable for the made up language spoken by the critters from outer-space.

MtD

Give that man a cigar...I don't think Ringo was in the film but Klaatu is the main character...Klaatu barada nikto, Klaatu barada nikto.

ImADope

Yes, my friend! Gort and I make many big jokings about such names. We must in consideration of continued living under our parentals.

My sister is name Patricia Oneal Hazmarkyatvian until she married. Now her name is Death by slipping beneath her caste. My parentals have burned her likenesses in temple many times. Her patshiake was buried during a Ceremony for the Lugubrious Ones performed by High Priest Saga Lu.

This is an interesting topic and as a black women I felt like adding my two cents. I know one issues besides economics. Minorities are not supposed to talk about their problems- its private, in the home and no one should know. Compare this to seeing a psychiatrist- ( i know cost is a factor in this too) but this has long been thought of as something white people do. We on the other hand are supposed to suffer silently. I don't think that its necessarily economics so much as its fear that this is just another way to be exposed. I feel like when we deal with things like this we just place in the back of our head and move on-different cultures and I think you would find similarities in the Asian community def. and possible the hispanic , middle eastern, native american etc. I don't think its healthy but that's my community.

This is an interesting topic and as a black women I felt like adding my two cents. I know one issues besides economics. Minorities are not supposed to talk about their problems- its private, in the home and no one should know. Compare this to seeing a psychiatrist- ( i know cost is a factor in this too) but this has long been thought of as something white people do. We on the other hand are supposed to suffer silently. I don't think that its necessarily economics so much as its fear that this is just another way to be exposed. I feel like when we deal with things like this we just place in the back of our head and move on-different cultures and I think you would find similarities in the Asian community def. and possible the hispanic , middle eastern, native american etc. I don't think its healthy but that's my community.

Hi friendlyfolk, I think you are spot on, and Asian culture is even more difficult on that point. Andy was wondering how to reach those communities, and how to break the silence, your wisdom and experience is very welcome !

I think that silence on a variety of topics in these communities exists for a reason... or reasons plural.

One generally doesn't find a social more that doesn't serve some purpose.

What I'm saying is... nothing happens in a vaccum.

If the African-American community is, as a group, more reticent than whites to discuss mental and physical health problems... I think it might be beneficial to figure out why rather than just immediately try to change the behavior.

wait,,, i am bit confused,,, Milker, you are saying that its strange how little asian population is hiv poz compared to how many asians there are in San Diego? Is that what you are saying? if so, asians don't have that large population that you are talking about. sure there are lots of viets close to where you live and up here in mira mesa, there are tons of Filips and Viets and Chinese, but thats about it, I think asians only make up about 5% of population in San Diego, although at UCSD and SDSU, its about 60 %.

as wrong as statistics can be, I still stand by my opinion that most people tend to stick to their own race when it comes to sex, and since hiv/aids was at first predominantly spread by mostly white gay population in big cities, hiv/aids stayed among that population for a long time.

and those minority people who have sex with other races like I do, look what happened became a poz fella.

what i'm saying is that i've had lots (and i mean lots) of unprotected sex with asians, either top or bottom, in california, in san diego and in the bay area. I've had less unprotected sex with black and white people compared to asian dudes in the last 3 years. So when I see numbers that show only 1% of asians people being poz it makes me wonder. Maybe it's true, but I think it's not.